Joe Torre addresses Jose Reyes and Aroldis Chapman domestic violence issues

In light of the domestic violence investigations into Jose Reyes and Aroldis Chapman, Joe Torre addressed Major League Baseball’s involvement and responsibilities at the Winter Meetings.

Major League Baseball intends to take a hard stance on domestic violence when it comes to the players and personnel in the game. They about to get severely tested in light of claims against both Jose Reyes and Aroldis Chapman this offseason.

Speaking to the gathered media at the 2015 Winter Meetings on Tuesday, Torre was asked repeatedly about the situations revolving around both Jose Reyes and Aroldis Chapman, and how Major League Baseball will apply its new rules on domestic violence.

At the present time, the league is still gathering information on both cases, and in particular the Aroldis Chapman case. In fact, Major League Baseball learned of Chapman’s reported transgression much at the same time the fans and media did, late Monday night.

"“We’re still gathering information, but I assure you that grass is not growing under anyone’s feet,” Torre said. “I’m not sure things would happen any quicker during the season. On the Chapman situation, we didn’t get the information until yesterday, and it obviously happened a lot earlier than that”"

Major League Baseball is undoubtedly treading cautiously in order to make sure they respect the player’s right under the collective bargaining agreement, however they also want to ensure that they are transparent in their desire to tackle these issues head on. That said, Torre and the league don’t feel any pressure to make a hasty, precedent setting decision either.

"“As awful as this situation is, there are still rights that have to be protected. We’re very careful to respect that and we will proceed accordingly,” Torre noted, “I don’t think we feel any pressure in light of the issues the NFL has faced, but we want to make sure we pay attention to the matter and do the right thing.”"

While that is all by the book and we wouldn’t expect Torre to drop the hammer of god on Chapman or Reyes in a press conference, the fact that remains that any punishment dealt to either will be precedent setting. In regards to Chapman, we’re already seeing the repercussions with the trade to the Dodgers on hold. Additionally, if he is suspended for any significant length of time, it could affect his service time under his last year of arbitration-eligibility and thus prevent him from hitting the free agent market after 2016.

Both situations will absolutely dominate headlines this winter, especially with Chapman on the trading block. Punishment from Major League Baseball looming will undoubtedly create a tough situation for the Reds and Chapman, but it will be one of the pitcher’s own creation.